


The trip back always feels shorter

by canadino



Category: Fire Emblem Heroes
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-21
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2019-07-15 00:42:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16051928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canadino/pseuds/canadino
Summary: Bruno returns to Askr after years of being away.





	The trip back always feels shorter

They stop in Askr, between Muspell and Embla. Veronica is suppressing yawns but hiding them behind her hands, blinking her eyes to stay awake. She is still not comfortable traveling with the Askr troops, but while she is still battling her curse, she was saved by the Askr royal siblings so she doesn’t offer any resistance when they arrive at a stronghold on the outskirts of the city in the dead of night. After all, while she may be just a child and newly reunited with her brother who has the cure to their blood affliction, she did recently oversee a reign of terror and consented to the slaughter of Askr citizens. Her hand clenches for a moment too long on Bruno’s traveling robes when they arrive at her room, guarded by two, stern Askr soldiers, but she yawns again and allows them to lock the door in exchange for protection from enemies and a soft bed for the night. 

When Bruno returns to the courtyard, Alfonse and Sharena are standing around Fjorm as Anna debriefs the commander of the base on their recent victories. Fjorm’s coughs are becoming deeper, rattling in her throat. Bruno knows the futile ebb of life energy when he sees it, and her sacrifice is something even the strongest magic cannot reverse. Sharena notices him first, blinking before giving him a cautious smile. “Did your sister go to bed okay?”

“I will check in with her later; with what she’s gone through, I’m sure she’ll feel more comfortable with someone around for the night.” Fjorm looks up at him from her seat. Unlike the members of the Askr Kingdom, she only associates him with good, the one who had given them direction and appeared at the eleventh hour to keep the troops organized in the rear. Her eyes are clear and grateful to find a comrade. “You ought to see a cleric,” he suggests quietly. “That cough sounds uncomfortable.”

“I would like something for my throat,” Fjorm agrees. Alfonse, ever the responsible one, steps forward, but Sharena holds a hand up and wraps an arm around Fjorm’s back.

“I’ll take her to see our best doctor. Stay and talk to Zacharias; I’m sure you have a lot to catch up on!” Sharena wants to talk to him too, Bruno knows; he can tell by the inquisitive shine in her eyes behind the instinctual apprehension after his long absence. Supporting Fjorm on her feet, she touches his arm. “We won’t have long in Askr before we need to set out again, so you two should get some sleep also.”

“Of course,” Alfonse says, sounding put-off that his younger sister is chiding him, but she only laughs and guides Fjorm further inside the base. Alfonse shifts the weight on his feet, glancing up. The moon is reflected in Alfonse’s eyes. “Do you…still need to wear that?” He gestures at the mask over Bruno’s eyes.

Bruno brings his hand up to his face but lets it drop again. It doesn’t feel right to unmask himself; he isn’t hiding from anyone anymore, but he still has work to do and it feels premature to stand as Alfonse’s equal. “It’s been so long since I’ve taken it off that it’s strange to remove it, I must confess.”

Alfonse looks away. It’s been years since Zacharias left, right when they were both in the peak of their adolescence. His mother tells him that he still hasn’t lost some of his baby fat in his cheeks, but he’s outgrown several sets of royal robes and has had his royal diadem remeasured for official ceremonies. He’s laid in bed with his joints aching and thought about how Zacharias might have changed; wide eyes settling with wrinkles in the corners, hands gripping a lance with knuckles a little more prominent. Bruno is taller than him, taller than Zacharias had been before he’d left, and Alfonse can see his adam’s apple from behind his collar. 

He turns, walking to the edge of the courtyard to look at the nearby village to distract himself. When Bruno appeared in Muspell, to scoop Veronica out of harm’s way, Alfonse felt a medley of questions he wanted to ask, but it was not the right time. Now, they stick in his throat like thick syrup, not rising to his mouth yet unable to swallow them back into silence. He wants to know, where has Zacharias been? Why had he not asked their help, when they had trained and played and grown up together for years? What had he done to remove the curse from his body? How had Zacharias, Bruno thought about him in the years they had been apart? And yet, he also wants to lay his hands on him, to feel something alive in his fingertips without speaking. He wants to feel Bruno’s heartbeat against his chest, he wants to feel Bruno’s breath against his palm, against his lips. He wants to pull Bruno close, or be drawn into Bruno’s arms - the order doesn’t matter. For years, Alfonse buried the regret and longing to focus on being a good prince on the way to becoming a good king but for the moment, he wants to be what he is - a lovesick boy who wants to make sure what’s in front of his eyes won’t disappear again like smoke. 

The sound of footsteps comes up next to him, and with a rustle of robes, Bruno draws up alongside and peers out into the night. Feeling Alfonse’s eyes on him, he turns. “You look like you want to say something, my prince.”

The words bring a heat to Alfonse’s stomach, waking memories of Zacharias teasing him for being a goodhearted - too good - princeling who could barely wave a sword. “I want to touch you,” Alfonse says, swallowing and feeling his knees tremble, “but I don’t know how.” 

The mask is convenient, for Bruno looks away again but Alfonse sees the pink in his ears. “Alfonse…I, too, would like to touch you but I’m afraid. I’ve hurt you before and I don’t trust myself not to hurt you again.” His hands are safely at his sides, gloved so all the callouses and broken nails from clawing out of his curse’s grasp are carefully hidden. 

Alfonse reaches over and takes Bruno’s hand, holding tightly at first as he rightly predicts that the Emblian prince might try and jerk away. He keeps his gaze down at their hands, embarrassed to observe Bruno’s reaction to his boldness, releasing some of his tension when Bruno presses some weight back into his hand. Bruno’s hand is not significantly larger than this, but it is warm in his. Alfonse still has so many things he wants to say, but for now, this is enough. Bruno squeezes back.

**Author's Note:**

> When I say I gasped when Bruno just dropped the "I've been thinking about you lately" bomb...that was literally Too Much. I haven't recovered. Make them canon, IS. Don't chicken out now.


End file.
